Contents

History of the Swedish Church Records

The origin of the Swedish Church Records (of the Lutheran State Church) dates back to the church law of 1686 which became effective in 1688. [1] Prior to this many parishes were keeping church accounts books which date back to medieval times. Eventually the bishops of a few dioceses took the initiative to start keeping other church records. One such bishop was Johannes Rudbeckius in Västerås Stift who in 1622 decided that more records were to be kept for the parishes in his diocese. He is attributed for creating the earliest Household Examination record in the 1620’s. [2] This influence is why you can search the Household examinations in Dalarna and Västmanland back to the 1620’s compared to the rest of the kingdom that generally begin in the 1720’s. The oldest Swedish church record is a death record of 1608 – 1615 from the parish of Helga Trefaldighet in Uppsala diocese.

Areas of modern Sweden that historically belonged to Denmark such as Skåne and Jämtland often have church records dating back to 1646 when a similar law was passed by the Danes. The church law of 1686 stated that the parish priest was to maintain:

But there was no centralized instruction as to how the books were to be kept. This became a concern for every diocese to regulate which lead to a wide diversity of record keeping all over the kingdom. For example, moving in and out records were not generally kept before the 1800’s. Starting in 1860 we see standardized printed forms in the church records yet even these vary diocese to diocese. It wasn’t until 1894 that standard forms were used kingdom wide for the church records.

In early times it is common that all 3 Ministerial records were kept in one book called the church book (kyrkboken). Often you will find other records there too such as the Sockenstämmoprotokoll (a record of parish decisions and affairs), and the Kyrkoräkenskaper (a parish financial record). In some parishes you might find a Konfirmationsbok (confirmation record) was kept. Eventually these records became separate books altogether.

All of the original church books before 1895 have historically been kept by the Regional archives (the Landsarkiv). When there are gaps in the record collections of a parish, it is most likely that the original records did not survive (although it is always good to check the parish records for the parishes in the same pastorat to be sure.)

Parish Record Collections

Although the record types mentioned above are used the most, they do not represent the entire parish record collection. Each parish kept additional records that may also be useful to your search. Further, there may be situations where you might need to search the Diocese record collections (especially regarding parish council decisions, permissions to marry or divorce, or even Bishop visitation records.)

The table below is a list that shows how many record types can be found in the collection of just one parish (regardless of accessibility.)

Other documents concerning church and cemetery together with religious residences and property (court proceedings, probates, and lease documents, maps and other documents concerning the wage benefits, donation documents, and agendas of the clergy

Other documents and manuscripts (notification books, historical records, and more)

Övriga nämnders och styrelsers protokoll och handlingar

K V

Församlingar (parishes)

Minutes and documents of other committees and boards

Missing Records

If all the records for a parish begin at a later date for example 1800, either: 1- the original records have been destroyed or 2- this parish was created in 1800 and you should be searching in another parish record collection prior to 1800. A good reference to see what happened is: Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna. This is available in book form and online at Sveriges församlingar genom tiderna.

If the local parish records were destroyed you might check with the Diocese Archives (Domkapitel Arkiv). These collections include many records from the parishes within the diocese such as diocese instruction, parish priest replacement, church residential properties, visits to the local parish by diocese officials, and donation records.

Among the visitation records you might find copies of local records such as the communion and household examinations and seating locations within the church. When a new priest or klockare (parish clerk) was chosen an electorial register was created which can offer detailed information about the land owners and farmers within the parish or pastorat. The Domkapitel Arkiv can also include records of divorces. The older part of the Domkapitel Arkiv are stored at the Regional archives (the Landsarkiv.)

Access to Swedish Church Records

The easiest way to access the Swedish Church Records is through the internet using sites such as SVAR, Arkiv Digital, FamilySearch, and Ancestry.com. Three of these sites require a subscription for access (Arkiv Digital and the FamilySearch Collections are available at FamilyHistory Centers.) The Genline images are available through Ancestry.com (a fee-based website) in its World Deluxe Membership subscription.